


Together, If You Would Allow Me

by Cilantro999



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles X
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-28 20:50:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11425953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cilantro999/pseuds/Cilantro999
Summary: The war is finally over: the Ganglion have been defeated and the Lifehold core has been found.  But there is still some unfinished business between Cross and Elma.  Minor spoilers if you have not finished the main chapters in the game.





	Together, If You Would Allow Me

**Author's Note:**

> Some creative liberties may have been taken with locations and people’s personalities (I’m not sure there is actually an observation deck on Blade Tower, for instance). While I’ve finished the main story, I haven’t finished all the side quests/Affinity quests/Heart-to-Hearts, so apologies if something isn’t quite canon.

Cross smiled as he listened to the lighthearted laughter from the citizens of NLA.  They’d finally won, destroying the Ganglion leader and securing the Lifehold Core.  The future was still uncertain for them, but at least they now had a future to look forward to.  Glancing around, Cross frowned when he located all but one of his closest friends.  On a whim, he headed to the observation platform on top of Blade Tower, grinning as he saw a familiar (yet not so familiar) form. 

Like the others, he’d been shocked when Elma revealed her true form as a pale blue skinned xeno.  But while some like Irina were still having trouble absorbing the truth, others like Lin had accepted Elma wholeheartedly, refusing to treat her any differently.  He was of the latter category; while it was weird seeing her in her natural body after seeing her for so long in her Mim body, he was somehow all the more mesmerized by her beauty.  Even more so than before, if he was being honest with himself.  Not that he’d ever say anything like that out loud.

“Thought I’d find you here,” Cross said.

Elma turned around, seemingly surprised to see him there, “Oh, hey Rook.”  Then she paused and sighed sheepishly, “Sorry, you’re not a Rookie anymore, are you?  Old habits die hard.”

“Eh, I don’t know.  I kinda like the nickname,” Cross replied.  He looked out over the city, then up out over Primordia, the moon full overhead, “Reminds me of when you first brought me to NLA.”

“And look at where we are now,” Elma whispered.  She turned and smiled up at him, “Thank you.  For helping make my dream a reality.”

Cross leaned back, hands crossed behind his head, “Not a problem, anytime.  That reminds me though, why did you want to save the humans?  Seems like an awful lot of trouble for…well, not a lot of gain.”

Elma’s face fell, “That’s…”

“Ah, sorry!” Cross quickly said, “Lin keeps telling me I have no tact whatsoever.  Forget I asked.”

“It’s not that!” Elma exclaimed, then seemed to settle down, “It’s just that it’s…complicated.  So much so that I don’t know how to explain.”

Cross looked at Elma’s forlorn expression and gave a lighthearted grin, “Well, if you ever want to unburden yourself, you know where to find me.  Even if I’m not the best listener.”

Elma seemed relieved at his banter, “When I get it all sorted out in my head, you’ll be the first to know.”  They settled into a comfortable silence before Elma blurted out, “What did you mean before?  When you said you were an ‘Elma person?’”

“Huh?” Cross choked out, panic clearly written on his face.  He vaguely remember saying that as a joke, one that she had obviously not picked up on.  It was around then that he had realized his true feelings for her, but he’d told himself that it would never work out.  They had other problems, like the Ganglion, to deal with anyways.  Why was she remembering something like that now?

Elma fidgeted, “I was talking to Irina about it before, and when I raised concerns about your mental state she laughed and said that I got it wrong.  But she wouldn’t explain what you actually meant by that, and it bothered me.  I wanted to apologize to you about the misunderstanding, but I never got the chance before.”

“Um…,” Cross groaned.  For all that woman’s straight-laced attitude, Irina had a bit of a mean streak sometimes.  He sighed as he scratched his head, trying to figure out the best way to explain.  He could be straightforward and just come out and say it, but he was feeling embarrassed enough to jump off Blade Tower to avoid the situation.  It wasn’t like his Mim body couldn’t handle the fall.

“Sorry,” Elma said, suddenly turning away, “Um, forget I asked.  That was uncalled for on my part.  We should probably get back to the celebration.”  As she began walking towards the exit, Cross shot a hand out to catch her wrist.

“Wait,” he blurted out.  Though she didn’t turn around, she didn’t pull her hand away either.  He took a deep breath as he steeled himself for her response, “I said that because…I like you.”

Elma turned around, confusion on her face, “Um, thank you?  I like you too, I guess.”

“Not as in the platonic like,” Cross stumbled to explain, “Not the way Tatsu likes food, or Lin likes cooking.”

“I don’t understand,” Elma said quietly.

Cross closed his eyes, struggling to say it, “Like as in the way Lao talks about his wife.”

Elma went silent for so long that Cross was worried she’d walked off and left him standing alone on the roof.  When she finally spoke, it was barely a whisper, “Wait, you mean you like me…romantically?”  All he could do was nod slowly.  He waited for her to say something, anything, even a ‘we are coworkers, so it would never work out’ but was met with silence.  When she finally tugged her wrist away, he let go, his heart crashing into the pit of his stomach.

Until he felt something soft touching his lips and realized she was kissing him.

The kiss was over before he could react and when he finally opened his eyes he ended up staring at Elma like a deer in headlights.  Her cheeks were glowing an odd turquoise, and Cross vaguely thought might have been a blush, “I heard that was an Earth custom.  Did I get it wrong?”

Cross shook his head, slowly coming out of his shock, “No, just wasn’t expecting that.  Does that mean you like me too?”

Elma turned away, seemingly blushing more furiously, “I…don’t know.”

“Eh?” Cross murmured.

“I mean, it’s not like I have any experience!” Elma exclaimed, turning away, “And, it wasn’t like I had the time for that sort of thing before.”

Somehow, between her embarrassed expression and bumbling explanation, Cross felt a mixture of relief and happiness spreading through him and could do nothing other than laugh with joy.  As she began to pout, he quickly attempted to placate her, “Sorry, sorry!  I just wasn’t expecting that.  You’re usually so logical and methodical, it’s nice to see a new side of you.”  With her back still turned to him, he walked up and wrapped his arms around her, “Besides, now we have plenty of time to sort through all this.  Together, if you would allow me.”

Elma hesitated for a moment longer before bringing her hand up to touch his arm, “I’m a xeno, you know?”

“And I’m technically a robot,” Cross chuckled, “Does that bother you?”

Elma shook her head, spinning around in his arms, “There isn’t anyone else I’d rather take this journey with.”  She stared up at him, silently asking for permission, and Cross brought his face down to meet hers as the fireworks began exploding overhead.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading! This kind of popped into my head one day and I felt like I had to write it down before I forgot. I really enjoyed the game and all its surprises; highly recommend it if you haven’t played it yet. Let me know what you all think in the comments section below. :)


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